Heat, what heat? :)

Well, we are officially full term and ready to go anytime. The question everyone asks me..."How are you holding up in this heat?"  My response is always, "Heat, what heat?" :)  I try not to complain about the heat because Josh works in the heat everyday, and he never complains.  Honestly though, the heat hasn't been too bad for me. I am able to go to the garden early in the morning when it is cooler out and then I can spend most of my time in the air conditioning.  My feet do not like the heat, but the swelling usually goes away by the time I wake up in the morning.
We now have weekly appointments and things have been good. At my appointment on July 2nd, we had a sonogram and my fluid levels appeared to be lower than they had been.  The doctor discussed with us the possibility of being induced if my levels dropped any lower.  I was told to continue to monitor the baby's movements and let them know if anything changed. On Saturday July 7th, I had to take my Type 75 certification exam...this is the exam for the principal program I am finishing up at Bradley.  During the exam, I wasn't really feeling the baby moving and I assumed it was just because I was nervous and anxious for the test.  When I got home, I tried to do some kick counts, and the baby just wasn't wanting to move much.  We waited a couple hours, and then finally decided to go to the hospital and make sure everything was OK.  Everything ended up being perfectly fine, thank God! 

At my appointment last week I started to tear up while sitting in the waiting room thinking that this pregnancy is going to be over soon.  I have truly enjoyed this experience and feel so blessed to have come this far!  I pray with all my heart that we get to travel this journey again in the future, and I hope that the next time I can enjoy more of it and not live in fear for so long!  The appointment this week went great.  My fluid levels are fine (I think they may have been a misread by the doc last week) and the baby is growing very well.  They are saying the baby is measuring big, so we will have another sonogram on Monday to check growth and fluid levels. The sonographer almost slipped and said the gender, but luckily she caught herself. The doctor also checked me and said that we are progressing very well. We go back on Monday for another check and to see how I am moving along :)

Well, we continue on this journey to meeting Baby Barra.  Never in my entire life did I imagine how consuming a mother's love is for a child. The excitement between Josh and I is awesome.  We keep talking about how things are going to change, but I don't think we can even begin to assume what it will be like to bring home our miracle.  We continue to praise God for this miracle, and we pray every night for all our friends and family who want to start their own journeys.  Please keep praying for us and we will keep you posted on any new baby developments :) 

Below are the finished nursery pictures. We are waiting to paint some of the details with a gender specific color :)

This is the tree that Josh's cousin painted for us.  I can't wait to add the little animals in a fun color once baby arrives :)

This is the board above the baby's bed.  As soon as I saw this quote, I knew I wanted it in the nursery.